When pigs fly

Quand les poules auront des dents // Never

Day 5 of Inktober gives us "chicken" as a prompt. That comes two days after "roasted", I guess someone was hungry.

Anyhow, here is a lovely french idiom "Quand les poules auront des dents" - "When chickens have teeth", meaning never. Or, as it were, when pigs fly.

And here is a chicken, all ready for a Halloween party, looking rather splendid in his Dracula costume.

École de magie appliquée

Excusez moi, quelle est l'orthographe de "Abracadabra"? // Excuse me, what is the spelling of "Abracadabra"?

Unlike yesterday, today's Inktober prompt "spell" does speak to me :)

Two notes - first, I missed a couple of letters in "orthographe" on the pic. I guess I have to refresh my spelling skills. And second - you mustn't ever distract your companion when he is at the point of blowing up the school, especially when it is a school of applied magic.

C'est une mauvaise chose à dire, mais ...

C'est un vrai cancre ; le professeur le met toujours au fond de la classe //

He's a real dunce; the teacher always puts him in the back of the classroom

Since today's Inktoner prompt ("roasted") doesn't really speak to me, I decided to take one from Transparent Language French Word of the Day again.

What a mean thing to say though. He is not slow or stupid, he is just dreamy. Look at him there, everybody is already gone and he is just sitting there looking at the last leaves of autumn.

Which reminds me of a lovely Spanish idiom "estar pensando en las musarañas" - to be distracted, dreamy, absent, but literally "to be thinking about the shrews". Why the shrews? Well, they are cute.

Tranquillité

Tranquillité: esprit vide, haute conscience //  Tranquility: empty mind, high awareness

Today's Inktober prompt is "tranquil". By a happy coincidence, today my chi kung classes start, and wikipedia tells me that tranquility is one of the advanced goals of chi kung.

By another happy coincidence, the cat is already tranquil as anything (he found inner peace, remember?).

However, what he cannot do is all that "paw above your head, palm up" nonsense. Not that he needs it, of course.

Comprendre les choses littéralement

Les chats ont tendance à comprendre les choses littéralement // Cats tend to understand things literally

Well, today is the first day of Inktober and the prompt for the day is "poisonous", so here is a bottle of Poison.

I am not sure I can do all 31 days but I will have a go.

As-tu fermé le robinet?

As-tu fermé le robinet de l'évier ? Il me semble entendre l'eau couler ! // Have you turned off the sink faucet? It seems to me that I hear water running!

I suspect water is indeed running, but the cat is oblivious, obviously.

When I half-finished the drawing I noticed that the earphones are not where they should be (for a cat). Never mind, though.

Régime assez strict

Elle est un peu grassouillette ; c'est pourquoi elle a décidé de suivre un régime assez strict // She's a bit plump; this is why she decided to go on a rather strict diet

It is a sad truth that, on average, a woman would readily go on a crazy diet when she feels she has some extra weight, whereas a man under the same circumstances would not even think about it. Look at him, he looks as pleased with himself as ever.

Well, good for him, bad for her. Strict diets don't work, long-term, sigh...

Elle était cramoisie

Ma nièce avait si chaud qu'elle était cramoisie // My niece was so hot that she was crimson

Today's phrase from Transparent Language makes me think of somebody annoying people with their family pictures (rather like in "uncle Ted and the Spanish Inquisition" sketch).

Just patching up

Mes cousins sont en train de rafistoler mon vieux vélo pour que je puisse participer à la ballade avec eux // My cousins are patching up my old bike so that I can go join them for a ride

Weeeell. It looks to me that only one cousin is engaged with the bike in any way. The other is busy facepawing.

Toute l'après-midi

Il faut maintenant trouver un accord, nous n'allons pas tergiverser toute l'après-midi // We have to find an agreement; we are not going to procrastinate all afternoon

Whoever designed that helmet chose to completely ignore the sticking-out-ears problem.  So it provides even less protection than a normal hockey helmet; that probably explains why the hockey player looks so blissful  - he probably can't even hear that his friend is suggesting they played badminton instead.

It looks to me that the badminton player doesn't stand a chance. They will be playing ice hockey.

Je n'aime pas être seul

Je n'aime pas être seul // I don't like being alone

Today, after more'n half a year break, I went to a French class.

Even after all these years living outside of Russia, it still surprises me that the classes start NOT on the 1st of September, and that everybody starts on a different day. I guess the 1st of September will forever stay "back to school" (la rentrée scolaire) day for me.

First few minutes I was the only student in the class. After a considerable while, three more people materialized, looking lost and unsure. I guess it was something to do with the fact that the days of our class were changed last week, and an email went out, and yet the subscription carried on with the old schedule. I assume tomorrow the rest of the class will turn up and will roam the school in search of the teacher.

Well, never mind. Everything will sort itself out eventually.

A case of the Mondays

Il semble que quelqu'un a la morosité du lundi! //

Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays!

This.

He seems to view Mondays with a very jaundiced eye.

"Morosité" is translated into something like "gloom", so the whole expression is more self-explanatory than "a case of the Mondays".

Dans le couloir

Une porte se ferma bruyamment et je frissonnai en entendant des pas approcher dans le couloir //

A door slammed loudly, and I shivered upon hearing steps approaching in the hallway

An element of horror today.

It is the first time I see "couloir" used, and am pleasantly surprised to discover the etymology of another Russian word explained in serendipitous way. 

The cats happened to draw themselves in their "amoeba" variant today, which makes the sound of approaching steps inexplicable. But it makes it even scarier, n'est-ce pas?